I got some wonderful news when I opened my email this morning. I am soon to be a published author, as some work I submitted a while back has been accepted by a Canadian poetry journal’s editorial board and will appear in the next issue. It’s not a complete book, but it’s definitely a start – and something I had been promising myself that I would do for years. I think while I am here, I need to seriously sit down and write. Not that writing in a journal isn’t serious writing of course, but there’s a lot to be inspired by here and I’d be crazy to waste the opportunity.

Last night at dinner, I was busy raving about the rug I saw on Sunday. Manish offered to take me to a store that most Indians would shop at in order to look at the rugs. We went to Fabindia and I did take a quick peek at the rugs. Then I found the womens clothing section and tried on my first set of Kurta pajamas. I bought two outfits and am almost ready to dress like a native. First, I’ll need a set of sandals. Of course, I still intend to purchase a saree this weekend so that I can wear it for our traditional Indian dress day. I’ve spoken to Manish and obtained permission to take pictures of the group when we dress up.

Fabindia is housed in a building that was once a traditional Indian home. Indians have a much closer family unit than I am used to. Many generations often live together. In the building, there are a series of inter-connected rooms, which lead out to an open patio space located in the middle of the building. Each section of the family would live in a different room, and share a common cooking and cleaning area. The patio or garden space would be the common meeting room – or rec room if you will – for the household. Everyone would gather there to socialize and spend time together. At the end of the day, people would return to their own rooms.

Most women in the office wear sarees, salvars, or kurta pajamas to work. I’ve found that in the working environment, most men wear western style clothing.

In the car, Manish pointed out the Ganesha on the dash board. Many drivers have a Ganesha statue in their cars as a sort of good luck charm to save them from accidents. Knowing that Ganesha is the remover of obstacles, I can certainly see why India drivers would want him in their cars. Shortly after seeing the Ganesha on the dash, Manish and I were traveling down the road in the wrong lane, facing oncoming traffic!

I have tried explaining the size of Canada to my co-workers and I’m not sure I’ve been able to do our native land mass justice. Since we are so sparsely populated compared to the US, and most of Europe and Asia is made up of such small countries, it is hard to describe just how vast Canada is. The best way I can think to describe it is by using the example of my cousins’ first visit to Canada from England. We were living in Manitoba at the time, and they were visiting my parents in New Brunswick. They wanted to take a weekend and drive to visit us. My parents had to explain that they lived closer to England than they did to Manitoba!

Writing this journal seems to be bringing people closer together – despite the distance. My dad wrote an email to tell me that my father-in-law had called them to say how much fun they’ve had reading about my adventures!

Great news on the work schedule front. As of next week, I’ll be working from 4pm – 2am. As far as I’m concerned, the late evening shifts are much better than the morning ones. I’ll have a chance to explore during the day and more time to see the sights. Evening shifts also allow an opportunity to connect with people in North America, since I’m not starting my day when most people back home are eating their dinner.

Today was an extremely long day, so I’ve decided not to plug my laptop into the power cord. Instead I’m running it off the battery and have promised myself that I will stop writing when the battery reaches 50%. Otherwise, I might still be up at 3am instead of soundly asleep.

On Sunday, the 28th of September, Dasara began. This is a 10 day Hindu celebration that ends on October 5th. Manish told me today that in the Hindu Bible, there is a story about Rama. Rama’s father was king, and had 4 wives. He had 3 brothers, all from different mothers. Rama’s sisters-in-law were jealous that he was first in line for the throne and conspired to have him banished from the kingdom. He spent 14 years in a forest, and while he was banished a daemon kidnapped his wife. October 5th is the date that Lord Rama slew the daemon and rescued his wife. This is the first of the two important religious festivals in October. The second, celebrated on October 28th, marks the date that Lord Rama returned to his kingdom from the forest.

I hope I got that right. It’s been a few hours since he recounted the story and I may have accidentally mixed up a few things.

For the past couple of nights, there has been a parade within a few blocks of the hotel. There is loud music, singing and drumming which goes on all hours of the night. I’ve been leaving my balcony door open to listen to the music and have really enjoyed it. Manish had told me that similar small celebrations and parades take place throughout the city during Dasara. Celebrants often believe that the louder the drumming and singing, the better their praises are to the deities. Tonight, it is strangely silent and I find I miss listening to the music.

Tomorrow is Ghandi-ji (Mahatma Ghandi’s birthday and a holiday) and the festivities are supposed to be amazing.

I am going to try contacting Lance tomorrow to see if he can upload the new journal entries to the page. It’s hard to believe that I’ve been here for a week already! The time is just flying past and too soon, I’ll have to head back to Canada.

I think I am in love with this country. Leaving will not be easy, but I will definitely find some way to come back in the next few years. I want to travel to see Dehli and Goa, and visit the new friends I have made in Bangalore again.

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